Sonic wave information is used by the oil industry to examine and evaluate the earth's subsurface in the exploration and evaluation of valuable oil and gas, or hydrocarbon, reservoirs. Sonic waves are generated and recorded in oil well logging. This is called sonic or acoustic logging. The sonic wave measurement taken in well boreholes is typically the formation compressional slowness (the reciprocal of velocity). However, many different acoustic wave types may measured, for example shear waves and Stoneley waves.
Acoustic logging is performed in order to resolve the slowness or velocity structure of subsurface earth formations. One aspect of the velocity structure is that subsurface earth formations may be directional in nature such that velocities vary depending on the direction of acoustic wave propagation and the polarization of the wave. This variance in velocity structure due to direction of wave propagation is called seismic anisotropy. The subsurface earth formation information accuracy or resolution of velocity structure that is possible is directly related to both the acquisition and the processing of the acquired data for the sake of accurately locating the subsurface oil and gas reservoirs.
Seismic wave anisotropy plays an increasingly important role in the exploration and production of hydrocarbon reservoirs. In seismic exploration, information about the earth formation anisotropy is needed to accurately delineate the reservoir from seismic wave data. In formation evaluation using borehole measurements, the anisotropy provides an important indication of pay zones, laminations and fractures. Determining seismic wave anisotropy from borehole acoustic wave measurements is thus an important task.